With Death comes Certain Graces
by heathnils
Summary: For Death is a fickle thing Karasu.


**With Death comes Certain Graces.**

He took a deep breath and sighed, not stopping the smile that began to tug at his lips.

The Dark Tournament.

It was probably one of his favorite events in the human realm. Every 50 years or so (he honestly didn't pay attention) nearly ever dark soul in all of Human and Demon World gather in one location to watch and encourage other darken souls like themselves to slaughter their own like cattle.

It surely was Death's bread and Hell's butter.

He sighed again. But then this was also work too and from what he heard from his older brother, Spirit World's spoiled brat of a prince, Koenma and his annoying blue-haired ferry girl, Botan or whatever her name was, went ahead to the Tournament, but merely as spectators to support a group called Team Urameshi, Koenma's new service dogs, he believed apparently. He brushed a strand of hair from his face as he sighed in annoyance.

Hayden Edwards Lane was the ruler of Hell and no one who would look at him would believe such a wild statement. He was a tall young man with a delicate slender form that would earn him comments of how much he looked like a young woman from behind that irked the male to no end. He had silver hair with blue streaks that stuck out at odd angles, part of his hair formed a large bang that covered the right side of his face with a lone forelock that was tied with a blue ribbon. He had dark green eyes that hid behind squared-rimmed glasses.  
Hayden was dressed similar to that of a raver and a punk goth cross, not a style of dress one would think the Lord of Hell would wear. He wore a black and white stripped shirt with sleeves that his fingers could barely peek over the cuffs of. He also wore fitting dark blue jeans that, like his shirt, wrapped around his body like a glove, and wearing black knee-high boots to complete his image. What stood out most about his outfit was the pink scarf that he wore around his neck, its tails flowing in wind and reaching down to his knees while he himself levitated, feet never touching the ground and cellphone pager hanging around his hip.

He sighed once more before he took a steady leap and gently stopping himself a few inches from the earth below, landing on the outskirts of the stadium area. He looked to the stadium as the sounds of battle, commentary and cheering flowing in the wind and reaching the young man's ears. He rolled his eyes and floated forward as a smile graced his lips.

What was Today's catch?

Of course he could always count on his pager to let him know who would be next for the taking, but where would the fun be in that? He drew past the large groups of demons surrounding a large TV screen to see if their choosing side was winning. Many demons ran past him, not noticing the silver haired man, although Hayden expected that from such weak trash.

"Come on Shishiwakamaru! All my money's on you!"

Hayden rolled his only visible eye and continued his trek into the stadium down the halls with various split corriders that lead to various rooms and into more hallways, until one ended with one of the large doors leading to the ring. He smiled, moving closer til he moved foward and right through it and stood out into the spotlight.

"Do you think he can really hear us?"

"Oh yeah!"

"GIVE ME YOUR PANTS SHISHI!" One woman called.

"Well Shishiwakamaru those girls are really into you. Too bad after I'm done with you, you'll be chopsuey wakamaru!"

"NO!" A woman's voice cried.

"HURT ONE HAIR ON HIS PRETTY HEAD, WE'LL KICK YOUR BUTT!" Another screamed.

"NO ONE WANTS TO KISS YOU!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! I'VE GOT A GIRL WHO WANTS TO KISS ME ALL DAY LONG AND SHE'S A LOT COOLER THEN YOU!"

Hayden blinked and looked ahead of him to the ring to see what all the yelling was about, gliding in a little closer. Apparently, he stepped in during a heated intimidating battle between two men as he was about to collect three darken souls. The two fighters were currently staring each other down, one was agitated while the other was calm and smiling. Wow, tough crowd.

The one with a calm face was dressed similar to that of a samurai for the clothing he wore was a white uwagi and a light-blue zubon tied off with a red hair is violet-blue, with long tresses tied in a loose ponytail and two large bangs sticking straight up from a widow's peak before falling back down to frame his face, parted equally on both sides of his face. He was handsome in appearance compared to the other.

The pager blinked, as if answering his question. **Shishiwakamaru.**

The other in question, could not attempted to be described in Hayden's books, but alas, the book wanted it to be. He was broad-shouldered with a defined muscular build that set him apart from the various other, that at least was he had going. He looked to be the tallest one out there as well, making him stand well out by standing at about six feet. He has thick reddish-orange hair that is combed up and back into a 'punk' pompadour style. He has an angular face with narrow gray eyes and high cheek bones and a slender pointed nose.

But why on earth was he wearing his school uniform to a place like this? After all, it was a fighting compettion. Hayden frowned and tilted his head, eye narrowed slightly. Kids these days. No respect or morals.

**Kazuma Kuwabara.**

"Let's get started my defective friend. I have fame to achieve." The violet-blue haired one, he supposed was Shishiwakamaru, smirked as a nearly transparent cloth wove around him like a snake.

"OH THAT IS SO IT! YOU ARE SO TOTALLY GOING DOWN!" The orange haired one, Kuwabara, he guessed, yelled as he raised his right arm and made a sword of energy appear in his hand before swinging it to his side, slightly frazzled. "COME ON!"

"We've got the fourth match, Shishiwakamaru versus Kuwabara. AND BEGIN!"

Hayden raised an eyebrow slightly, almost questionly as the orange haired teen squatted slightly, ready to attack. Surely, he was an idiot. Granted, that neither was marked in his pager for death. He glanced back at the other, Shishiwakamaru, who had held his hands up to support the nearly invisible cloth. His green eye narrowed. Something was off about that cloak- familiar even.

The teen, Kuwabara, suddenly started running at Shishiwakamaru, who looked none too fazed, yelling and began swinging his sword about- like an idiot. Hayden felt, if anything, annoyed.

Kuwabara suddenly made a small jump and brought his sword down upon Shishiwakamaru, who just stood there and smiled, as the sword cut right through him. Hayden almost felt pity- almost.

"GOT YA'." Kuwabara cried triumphantly only to have it disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

Shishiwakamaru had simply disappeared only to reappear behind Kuwabara, all the while still smiling. "Don't be ridiculous." He smirked.

Kuwabara turned around slowly and growled at the violet-blue haired demon, before he belted out a cry and made another dash at the man. The hit and miss process seemed to go on for a while, as Hayden began sizing them up. This Kuwabara had the swordsmanship of a street sweeper. How in the many levels of hell did he end up here and not dead yet?

Kuwabara kept dashing and slashing his sword at the demon as Shishi gracefully maneuvered around the sword and its holder, smiling as if amused by the boy's foolish attempts to land a hit on him.

"And here's my brand of fighting; no troublesome bog just an open neck of a sword."

"Shishiwakamaru can read his every maneuver."

Hayden paused in his study of mortal's combat and turned his direction to his right to locate the source of the voice and found that he was standing right next to another young man. He was far different from the other two in the stadium. Not as tall as Kuwabara, he was far more better looking, in Hayden's opinion, with a lithe build. He had bright green eyes, just like his elder brother did, with vibrant red hair that rested on his back with two long forelocks. He wore a chinese tunic with a yellow plane and blue trim and white pants and long-sleeved shirt.

**Kurama**. His pager blinked.

Hayden raised an eyebrow as he studied him. He wondered if the poor boy was often confused for a woman as well. If so, then pity he shall grant on him.

Hayden's attention was soon back at the fight as Shishi leapt over Kuwabara and gracefully placed his right foot on his head before bouncing right off and landing delicately behind Kuwabara, standing tall. Kuwabara trembled with anger before turning around, revealing to the silver-haired male the footprint in bedded in his pompadour just as the women in the stands went wild. Hayden had to bite back a laugh at this. Glad that no one could see him.

"THAT'S IT!" Kuwabara seethed, glaring hard at the demon man. "Using my head as a trampoline is where I draw the line." He belt out another battle cry and charged at Shishi who simply stood his ground.

Kuwabara swung his sword down just as Shishi side-step, smirking almost playfully as the carrot-top began to fall forward. His face turned sour just as Kuwabara collected himself just in time and made another dash and downward slash at him. He disappeared then reappeared above him, whereas his cloak moved in away from its owner and around the confused teen like, again, a snake.

Kurama gasped as Hayden lifted an eyebrow. Kuwabara was disappearing into the folds of the cloak, panicking all the while. " I'M NOT UGLY OKAY?!" He shrieked before he vanished without a trace.

Hayden frowned. That was it?

As if somehow reading the same lines, another young man, standing at Kurama's left, with a lean, muscular build with crimson eyes and spiked black hair with blue outlining and white streaks that covered a white headband frowned. He wore a pale blue undershirt that had seen better days that was covered by a white cloth shoulder to hip, tucked into black pants that were in turn tucked into calf high black boots.

**Hiei.**

"Nice last words." He scoffed.

Hayden smirked and nodded in agreement with this man. True.

"I've lost all trace of him." Kurama was puzzled and concerned. "It's as if he ceased to exist."

He glanced at him. Who cared, exactly?

"Umm- What's the rule on this one?" The poor demon girl, Juri asked, looking feverishly round for the missing carrot-top, her purple eyes scanning and her mint-green whipping back and forth. "He was in the ring, but now he's not- But the cloth he was wrapped in still is-"

"He lost."

**Juri.**

Juri blinked before turning to Shishi; confusion clearly written in her eyes. Hayden raised an eyebrow before turning to look in the opposite direction briefly. He wondered.

"Clearly- He's not in the ring." He smirked. "As to where he actually is, I don't know or care. You'll have to ask the cape of no return for such trivial details."

Cape of No Return? Hayden tilted his head forward. Why did that sound famiailar? Where did he hear about it?

"Somewhere in this world or maybe the next..."

Hayden scoffed. He sure as hell wasn't in his department. He would have known long before then.

"Or maybe another dimension- I just know he's uncomfortable."

Hayden sighed. Time was wasting. It wasn't that these fights were boring, it was that he also had a job that needed getting done. Souls don't collect themselves and if Botan and that spoiled prince, Koenma aren't going to collect them, someone had to. And guess who was the lucky guy?

With a turn on his heel and a swish of his scarf, he disappeared into the air from within inside the stadium and reappeared a little outside of the stadium, his green eye searching for his prey. They couldn't have gone too far. Dead for some unclear reason, didn't often stray too far where their body dropped dead.

Why was that?

**Souls within 5 meters.**

"Can you believe those guys? Unbelievable!" Cried a voice, full of squeak and disbelief.

"Yeah! And after all we did for them... In the end, they just merely used us. Bastards." Another voice spoke, more deeper and angry.  
Hayden raised an eyebrow as a smirk played across his face. Was that-

"Yeah, well, joke's on them." Smirked a third voice. Sounded like he was chewing something.

"How?" Inquired the second voice.

Hayden glided forward, following the sounds of the voices until he reached a clearing connected to a steep cliff into the ocean. Three men stood there overlooking the cliff and Hayden was pretty sure they must have been part of a circus act at some point in their life. If his pager didn't indicate that they were the souls he was looking for, he would have dumped them on Koenma if he was given the chance.

"They can't compete in finals without a team of five." The third voice smirked. It belonged to a tall and broad-shouldered man who possessed a well-defined muscular physique. His thick, crew-cut blond hair is kept up by a large white headband that encircles his forehead. "And teams are only allowed one substitution right?"

**Kuro Momotaro.**

"Right..." Agreed the first voice. This one had a slightly endomorphic body structure, consisting of a rather stocky torso and a soft, round facial countenance with jet black hair and beady black eyes.

**Ura Urashima.**

Hayden glanced briefly at the pager that hung on his hip then back at his prey. How the hell did they not here that?

"Well, then they're screwed." The third voice roared in laughter. "Since all three of us are dead, how the hell are they going to fight Toguro and his big boys with just three?"

"Good point." Chortled the second. A darkly skinned man and short, wavy, jet-black hair which is held up by a thin, red color headband and... Missing his arm.

**Makintaro.**

"Man, this I got to see." The one Ura Urashima chuckled darkly.

"Now that's not a happening thing." Hayden said, drawing all three men's attention to him. "That's prohibited... At least, by my standards."

"Wha- Who the hell are you?" The blonde, Kuro demanded.

"You can see us?" The tall one, Makintaro asked, disbelieving.

"And who are you to tell us what to do?" The small one, Ura demanded.

"One question at a time." Hayden growled in annoyance. "I'm Hayden Lane, yes I can and see you three and..." Hayden gave a dark toothy grin. "I'm the God of Death and the ruler of Hell so you'd better do what I'd tell you or Big Brother help you..."

"Heh- You can't scare us!" Ura said triumphantly, pointing at Hayden. "We're already dead! There's nothing you can do that can be worse than that!"

"And what god of Hell in there right mind would wear a pink scarf?" Makintaro mocked almost laughing. "Seriously."

Hayden's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He didn't appreciate people making fun of his scarf. It was gift given to him a long long time ago.

"What are you going to do about it ass?" Kuro asked, almost mocking him and challenging him.

Hayden cocked his head to one side and held out his right hand to his side. With a blink of an eye, a scythe appeared. Almost two times bigger then the silver-haired man, its handle was made of polished black cedar with a large thin blade that was just as large, attached by thin black strings was two large ratty feathers and a large hourglass that glowed bright blue. Both the blade and hourglass sunk slightly into the earth.

"Uh- I think we got a problem." Ura Urashima muttered, eyes widening.

"Pssh- It's all talk." Kuro smirked, stepping forward waving his hand. "That thing's gotta be more heavier then himself! And he's more scrawny then that Kurama punk. He ain't got nothing, nobody but freaks like Makintaro lift something that big."

The other two laugh confidently as Kuro moved forward as Hayden floated there, his scythe's blade sunk deeper into the ground. Kuro gave a battle cry and dashed right at the young man his left fist raised and ready to strike.

Hayden, in response, moved his scythe, violently, to the left, slashing through the demon's mid-section, causing the demon's body to turn briefly into blue flame that soon was soon sucked into the hourglass. He turned smiling darkly at the remaining two.

The other two let out screams, completely frozen in place as Hayden took a flying leap at them, scythe following right behind. The scythe cut through their bodies like butter and like Kuro both bodies turned into bright blue flames and were drawn into the hourglass. Silence returning as the wind blew.

Hayden halted gently, floating a few feet away from where the three demons once stood. He sighed and turned to look back out to the ocean, the sea breeze gently caressing his face and his hair. He took a deep breathe, this island was nice as it was beautiful. He was grateful that the soul collecting didn't take as long as he originally thought, he pulled his pager off his belt and looked it over briefly. But like all wonderful things, they had to end. There was a job that needed to get down.

**5 deaths. 4 men, 1 woman, known as Team Gorenja.**

Hayden raised his eyebrow. "Who?"

**1st death, Midorenjya. 2nd death, Kirenjya. 3rd death, Momore-**

"Who the hell are these people? Are they the frickin' color rangers? Fighting and now dying with colors?"

**Death; By men known as Team Toguro. Form for each-**

Hayden quickly pocketed his pager and looked back at the stadium. And who was Team Toguro? If he remembered, Koenma was having kittens about them for some reason and all. He sighed. He'd only seen the younger brother and the elder one of the Toguro Team fight.

Hopefully the missing team members of Team Toguro had something interesting up their sleeves. Something to keep him amused. He smiled as he moved back toward the stadium to the sounds of booing crowds.

"Better be good stuff."

* * *

**Look at me trying something new, with my old love... YYH! I simply adore Karasu and Kurama. Those hot yin-yang bastards.**

**For a better look at Hayden, type this into your search engine and viola!**

** art/Hayden-in-the-Works-Layer-3-421167462**

**And yes JayJaySpirit is me... Should change that.**

**I'll have his brother, *spoiler* Owen up too, soon. So many viewers who read my fanfics with obvious mentions of Owen and/or Hayden will now know. Enjoy!**


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